


Gifts

by alessandralee



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 03:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1371469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/pseuds/alessandralee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye insists that Ward needs something to make his bunk more personal, and Ward gets attached to a small gift from Jemma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gifts

Grant Ward generally doesn’t keep mementos. When he first moved onto the Bus, his bunk was sparse, containing only his bed (with standard issue comforter) and dresser, his laptop, a few books and manuals, an alarm clock, and a photo of himself and his brother (taken by his brother’s now-fiancée and interrupted by their happy go lucky golden retriever).

Six months into this new job, and his teammates have forced him into adding a bit of clutter.

It starts when his alarm clock malfunctions the morning after a particularly exhausting mission (he definitely did not forget to reset it before going to bed), and Skye has to wake him up for training.

“Wow, you must be the most boring person ever,” she comments after one look into his space.

He assigns her extra pushups for this comment, but the next morning she still hands him a framed photo of the team. In it, they’re all doing what he assumes is their best impression of him (he does not frown that deeply and he definitely doesn’t hunch over the Fitz and Simmons are). He puts in on top of his dresser, in hopes that will be enough for Skye.

It isn’t.

Suddenly, everyone is giving him something for his room. The morning after he finally beats Simmons at Scrabble, Fitz gives him a small trophy, engraved with the words “Doesn’t Suck at Scrabble As Much As We All Thought.” Coulson gives him a SHIELD logo paperweight that matches the one he’s seen on the man’s desk (and come to think of it, he hasn’t seen it there recently). May goes all out and buys him a poster showing the evolution of American weaponry through different wars. Skye gets him a second gift; this time it’s a joke-a-day calendar (she tells him this is because he needs to get a sense of humor).

Jemma is the last to give him something. She knocks on his door before breakfast, looking less composed that usual.

“This is for your collection,” she tells him as she hands him a piece of paper.

“Collection?” he didn’t realize he was starting a collection.

“Skye says you’re starting a collection of room décor items.”

“Room décor items?” he can’t imagine Skye using those words.

“Her exact words were ‘things that will make him seem like an actual human being.’”

That sounded more like Skye.

“Oh, well thanks.”

She shoots him a small smile and then quickly heads back to the lab.

When he actually looks at what she’s given him, he sees that it’s another photo, not just a piece of paper. He remembers Skye taking it about a month earlier, in a hotel bar in Abu Dhabi. In it, he has his arm wrapped around Jemma’s shoulder. Most of Fitz’s body has been cropped out of it, because he sneezed while it was being taken and came out looking like a tan and green blur. It’s more desaturated that he remembers the original being; he figures Jemma’s done something to alter it. Paperclipped to it is a short note.

‘Skye probably could have done something more artistic in Photoshop. I’m not really used to using these chemicals for this. Hope you enjoy!’

He props the photo up against the wall and finds himself staring at it often over the next few days. He tucks it into the back pocket of his tac gear before they head out on a new mission, like it’s a good luck charm. He feels weird about that in retrospect (they’re teammates and friends, not a medieval knight and his lady). He buys a frame to keep it in soon after, if only to remove the temptation.

He still finds himself staring at it more than he probably should.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt given to me anonymously in December. It was "taking picture of each other," and clearly I didn't even come close.


End file.
